Husen remembered for her kindness, compassion on somber anniversary
Friday, June 2, 2023
Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu
Dr. Stephanie Husen was a physician.
She was an Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine class of 2004 alumna.
She was called Aunt Stef by her niece and four nephews.
And one of her favorite animals were flamingos.
“Flamingos are a sign of beauty and brightness and joy. They also symbolize balance, harmony and grace. Stephanie lived her life with these qualities and more,” said her father, Greg Husen.
A year ago on June 1, 2022, Husen and three others were killed in a shooting in the Natalie Building on the Saint Francis Hospital campus in Tulsa.
Husen’s family and friends remember her kindness, generosity, optimism and caring nature.
“Stephanie spent 13 years in higher education in order to reach her goal to become a medical doctor to care for others. Caring, loving and giving of herself for others was her mission in life,” Greg Husen said. “She was kind and generous to everyone. Those who knew her loved her, and she loved them right back.”
Dr. Natasha Bray, dean of OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, graduated from OSU-COM just a year before Husen and was her student mentor during medical school.
“Stephanie loved life. She had an infectious smile and approached life with passion and zest. She never met a stranger and had a gift of making every individual she interacted with feel valued and included,” Bray said. “She loved being a physician and valued her relationships with patients. The passionate love she had for her family and friends was palpable in all her interactions. She always found the fun."
“Stephanie spent 13 years in higher education in order to reach her goal to become
a medical doctor to care for others. Caring, loving and giving of herself for others
was her mission in life.”
Last summer, alumni from the OSU-COM class of 2004 worked with the OSU Foundation to establish the Dr. Stephanie Husen Memorial Scholarship. In the past year, more than 150 gifts have been made to the scholarship fund totaling more than $60,000.
“It’s absolutely amazing to see the generous outpouring of support. I think this is a testament to Dr. Husen as a person and the impact that she had on so many in the community around her,” said Dr. Stephanie Kuhlmann, an OSU-COM class of 2004 alumna and pediatric medical director at Wesley Children's Hospital in Wichita, Kansas. “We hope that her name and legacy will continue to live on and that through this scholarship, she will continue to impact and serve others within the osteopathic community.”
Greg Husen said Stephanie’s family and friends knew and felt the impact she had on their lives, and now with the scholarship established in his daughter’s name, that impact will be felt even farther.
“To know that so many others have donated to the scholarship fund in honor of Stephanie is an amazing compliment to the person she was and the fact that she valued relationships with all the people that entered her life,” he said. “Stephanie would be very pleased to know that because of others’ generosity a new medical student will be helped financially and supported in their journey to care for others.”
Donations to the Dr. Stephanie Husen Memorial Scholarship can be made through the OSU Foundation, and please note your donation is in memory of Stephanie Husen.